German Constitutional Law: The Protection of Civil Liberties

Netherlands International Law Review -     

Partisanship as information

Intuitively, we associate different political parties with different types of policy. In contrast, this paper shows that in the absence of differential costs of membership among parties (that is, if party membership ischeap talk), party labels cannot perfectly signal the ideologies of candidates. However, under certain conditions parties can signal candidate types imperfectly. The paper therefore also provides an example of how costless communication can be effective in games of partial conflict.     

PROFESSIONAL INTERDEPENDENCE IN DIVORCE PRACTICES

Divorce mediation is one area of the new and growing field of interpersonal mediation. Differences and similarities between divorce mediation and divorce psychotherapy are discussed in this article, and a method for teamwork between the two professions is proposed. The authors take the approach that the separate but overlapping practices of mediation and psychotherapy can be interdependent and that specific benefits to divorcing clients can result when divorce mediation and divorce psychotherapy are practiced collaboratively.     

Market failure and stagflation: Some aspects of privatisation in Poland

The paper investigates causes of the stagflation phenomena which appeared in Poland in the period after the ‘shortageflation’, i.e. after February 1990. It is conjectured that one of the primary reasons for the appearance of the stagflation was substantial market uncertainty, which led to a market failure. The theoretical analysis is based on the Newbery-Stiglitz model of futures trading. This reveals that, in the presence of huge price variations a market is likely to fail if a substantial backwardation accompanies negative correlation between prices and quantities. The empirical evidence consists of testing market efficiency (weak and semi-strong forms) and the rational expectations hypothesis for the Polish consumption market and inflation in the period of shortageflation. It is found that the market survives the tests for weak efficiency but fails the test for semi-strong efficiency and rational expectations.     

Measuring Government in the Early Twentieth Century

This article discusses the early history of performance and productivity measurement. It finds sophisticated development of these tools beginning in the first decade of the twentieth century, primarily at the New York Bureau of Municipal Research. These practices grew out of accounting, the social survey, work records, and municipal statistics. The bureau built government's capacity to measure. They advocated such basic empirical practices as making observations at all, doing so systematically and routinely, and recording data at the time of observation. By 1912, performance measurement exhibited many of the features associated with the modern practice: measuring of input, output, and results; attempting to make government more productive; making reports comparable among communities; and focusing on allocation and accountability. Performance measurement was developed in the context of shifting power between the elected executive and the legislature.     

友谊之旅 交流之旅 合作之旅——中共中央政治局委员、中央书记处书记、中宣部部长刘云山访问拉美三国纪行

应智利政府、巴西及秘鲁两国执政党和政府的邀请，2009年6月28日至7月7日，中共中央政治局委员、中央书记处书记、中宣部部长刘云山对上述三国进行了友好访问。中联部副部长陈凤翔，中宣部副部长翟卫华，中共江西省委常委、宣传部长刘上洋陪同访问。     

HONG KONG: A NETWORKING PERSPECTIVE ON CHINA'S NEWSAR

This article looks at the impact of the changes that occurred on new and existing networks when Hong Kong was returned to China. The article discusses the utility of the networking perspective for understanding the changes, particularly as they relate to regionalism and the dynamics of regional networks. Some changes created a foundation for new networks and signaled the presence of new network members. Other changes occurred in older relationships among network actors such as those in the Senior Civil Service. The central role of Beijing has become an effective means of assimilation and is also influential regarding the reassertion of Chinese values. It has had a major impact on the cohesiveness and alignments of networks. These changes have also begun to reduce the strong international regional position of Hong Kong.     

BARS,BLOCKS, AND CRIMES REVISITED: LINKING THE THEORY OF ROUTINE ACTIVITIES TO THE EMPIRICISM OF “HOT SPOTS”*

Anticipating recent developments in routine activities theory, Roncek and Bell (1981) found that bars and taverns had detrimental effects on crime on residential city blocks in Cleveland for 1970. We replicate and extend their work by examining the effects of recreational liquor establishments (i.e., taverns and cocktail lounges) on crime from 1979 to 1981 on Cleveland's residential city blocks. The number of such businesses on residential city blocks has positive and statistically significant effects on the amount of crime. The effects on crime are compounded when the businesses are located in areas with physical characteristics that are associated with more anonymity and lower guardianship. Our results reaffirm the value of new developments in routine activities theory that now stress the importance of facilities. They also extend recent work attempting to identify and analyze “hot spots” of crime.